Free house, with strings

This old house is free for the taking.

Two stories. Brick exterior. Spacious rooms.

There's just one catch for someone wanting to own this turn-of-the-century house.

The new owner must pay to haul the time-worn house off the grounds of Forest Lawn Cemetery in north Omaha.

And the price to move the house could be steep — as much as $100,000 to relocate it to a new lot, according to one Nebraska house mover.

For about a year, cemetery officials have been discussing what to do with the house. It sits, long vacant, behind a black iron gate near 40th Street and Forest Lawn Avenue.

Maintaining the property is costly, said Gregory Easley, the cemetery's general manager. It needs a new roof, for one thing.

So cemetery officials are hoping to find someone with deep pockets who wants to own the house. If no one steps forward, it is likely to be knocked down, though there's no time line for demolition.

“If somebody wants to save the house, they can take it for free,” Easley said. “Just put it in a little red wagon and drag it down the street.”

The potential move of a 300-ton-plus home, of course, would be a bit more involved than a trek down the street on a childhood toy.

Gary Williams has run a house moving business out of Hastings, Neb., for the past 48 years. He has uprooted entire homes, carefully loaded the structures on massive wagons, then delivered them to new locations.

“There is no fibbing about it with that old girl,” Williams said. “Somebody would have to be willing to cough up a lot of money to make this work.”

Based on photos he was shown of the house and his familiarity with the area, Williams estimates that it would cost between $80,000 to $100,000 to re-establish the house on a new lot. And the closer the lot is to the cemetery, the better, in terms of both cost and logistics.

The move also couldn't happen overnight, Williams said. It would take several weeks of careful planning, clearing obstacles on the ground and overhead structures such as utility lines. For the actual move, the house would inch along block after block.

Once in its new surroundings, the house probably would need a lot of work, including new wiring, to be updated to city codes, Williams said.

From the outside, the house resembles one of the stately homes found in older neighborhoods in eastern Omaha.

Past and current cemetery managers don't know many details of the house's long history, including the square footage. But this much is known:

-- Finished around the turn of the 20th century, the structure was built as living quarters for the groundskeeper at the cemetery, which opened in 1885.

-- The house was later converted into administrative offices and remained the cemetery's headquarters until 1981, when a new administrative office was built near the park's current entrance at 7909 Mormon Bridge Road.

-- A fraternal society, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, once held regular meetings there. A nearby monument honoring the lodge has the date Oct. 20, 1926, inscribed in concrete.

The home's character was obvious during a recent tour, but so too was the need for renovations.

The home has running water and heat, but peeling paint and water stains mar the walls. Inside the front door is a spacious main room with ocean blue carpet. Nearby, the kitchen and bathroom areas are, not surprisingly, a bit weathered.

An old calendar opened to November 1997 hangs on a wall. Radiators are in most rooms, as are many spider webs, dust and dead bugs.

The upstairs includes one large room that could be converted, based on its size, into two rooms. There is also one upstairs bathroom.

In the basement, a giant safe is built into a wall.

Easley, the general manager, said he and other employees have maintained the house for more than two dozen years.

But cemetery officials now realize the old home has no future within the cemetery. He said the land under the house eventually could be used for burial plots.

Nobody wants to see the house meet the wrecking ball, however. They hope the allure of a free, old-fashioned home grabs someone's attention.

“We'd be pleased if someone would want it,” Easley said. “That would be the best scenario.”

Contact the writer:

444-3198, chip.olsen@owh.com